Niemi, Sharks beat Bruins 4-2

After the Bruins tied the game by scoring twice in less than a minute to start the third period, former Boston College Eagle Benn Ferriero beat Tim Thomas less than midway through the third beating the Bruins.

For the sixth straight game the Bruins let their opponents get on the board first. Just over a minute into the game former Bruin Joe Thornton picked up a loose puck after a David Krejci turnover at the point and fed the puck to Joe Pavelski. Pavelski skated in and ripped a shot passed the glove of Tim Thomas.

“Yeah, it was a great play by Jumbo [Joe Thornton] to see that right through a few guys with pressure on him. Those are the plays he makes and I was able to shoot, kind of using the D as a little bit of a screen, and was able to beat [Tim] Thomas” said Pavelski. “He’s a good goalie, you know, if he sees that – for the most part – he stops that, so I’m sure he didn’t quite see that all the way.”

The Sharks would add to their lead in the second when Logan Couture snuck loose behind the Bruins defense and put one past Thomas for the only goal of the period.

Heading into the third period the Bruins knew they needed to pick things up, and the black and gold wasted no time.

After the puck trickled loose during a battle for the puck, Milan Lucic collected the loose puck and fired it past Niemi cutting the lead in half, the shot was Lucic’s first of the game.

“It was a dump in by Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] that me and Kels [Chris Kelly] just got in there to put pressure on the goalie. And I know it went off Kels, and a few lucky bounces I was able to pounce on it and find the net” said Lucic. “And it was a good way to kind of, kind of nice after last game’s third period to get the monkey off the back and starting to play a lot better personally. And it felt good to get that one.”

The Bruins wasted no time using the momentum towards their favor when Lucic and Tyler Seguin rushed in on a two-on-none which resulted in a Seguin goal tying things up at two.

With the game knotted at two Ferriero made sure there would be no comeback for the Bruins on this night. Ferriero escaped the coverage by Bruins defenseman Steven Kampfer took a loose puck and found the back of the net regaining the lead for the Sharks, a kind of crazy play according to Thomas.

“Yeah it was through traffic and I think it got tipped and basically as soon as it got to me the guy cut across and put it in. I don’t know if he kicked it forward or dug it out I’m not sure” said Thomas. “But I had to hold my position so the puck got to me, I knew that guy was cutting across but I didn’t want to start moving too early or the original shot would go through.”

The Bruins had numerous chances to tie things up after the Ferriero goal but as was the case throughout the night Niemi stood tall. A Patrick Marleau empty-net-goal would seal the deal for the Sharks, handing the Bruins another frustrating loss.

One good note coming from the loss was the chemistry shown by the Lucic-Chris Kelly-Seguin line. Two games in a row that trio has been the Bruins best, and Claude Julien has been pleased with those guys.

“They’ve been good. I said that the other night, too. Milan has played two of his best games here in the last two, and Tyler, when you give him an opportunity, he makes things happen. He’s playing very well for us also” said Julien. “And Chris Kelly, who’s probably the underrated guy on that line, has been tremendous with those two guys. I’m happy with that line. They’ve given us exactly what we were hoping for.”

The Bruins are off till Thursday when longtime rival Montreal Canadiens visit the Garden for the first time.